PRESENTATION OF MANUAL "CHURCH, DRUGS, AND DRUG DEPENDENCY"

VATICAN CITY, DEC 4, 2001 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office, Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, presented the Pastoral Manual "Church, Drugs, and Drug Dependency." Various members of the same dicastery participated in the presentation.

The manual, prepared by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry and published in Italian, French, Spanish, and English, is the result of extensive work begun four years ago. "In 1997," the archbishop said, "the Holy Father entrusted to this dicastery the task of considering the distressing drug problem in the world. Since then we have organized a series of studies, meetings, and international conferences, and we have created special working groups. ... Among our concerns was the creation of a manual on pastoral health care in the specific area of drugs."

"The manual," the archbishop continued, "does not pretend to offer a definitive response but to give suggestions which can assist in pastoral work. We know that many methods exist, that there are many experiences of people completely and heroically dedicated to this pastoral work. We respect this plurality of approach ... for prevention and treatment in the world of drugs. ... Here we do not intend to propose a new method, but to give a simple response, as a practical guide."

The text is addressed to bishops, priests, pastoral workers, parents with drug dependent children and health care professionals. "Politicians," the president of the dicastery added, "have an important role to play in this scourge, and its restraint depends greatly on their approach."

The five-chapter manual opens with the words of John Paul II. "The Pope," affirmed Archbishop Barragan, "tells us of three specific actions for a pastoral care program which confronts the drug problem: prevention, treatment, and repression." The text deals with the first two actions in depth. The Holy Father refers to the third affirming that "we must all fight against the production, creation, and distribution of drugs in the world, and it is the particular duty of governments to courageously confront this battle against 'death trafficking'."

"It cannot be said that there are countries who produce drugs on the one side and those who consume them on the other," the prelate specified. No one is immune from this ill-omened tidal wave, all countries produce and all consume, especially now that synthetic drugs exist. We are all involved, and the drug barons are stronger and destroy more in rich countries than in poor ones."

The first chapter of the manual looks at the teaching of John Paul II on this subject, while the second chapter, entitled "Drug addiction is a symptom of dependency," provides practical information on different drugs. The third chapter, "Become free," proposes a reflection on the question of freedom and the discovery of the sense of pleasure and happiness. The fourth chapter, "Education and prevention," is dedicated to the theme of education and prevention as the fundamental means of fighting drug dependency, and the fifth chapter, "Pastoral attitudes at the service of the liberation of the individual," presents the delicate ministry of the spiritual guidance of drug addicts and their families.

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